NMTCB REPORT

Kathy Thomas

Kathy Thomas

This issue of the JNMT is my last opportunity to summarize current projects and accomplishments of the NMTCB and to share its goals and objectives for the coming year.

POLICY REVIEW

The new ethics and disciplinary policy became effective January 1, 2005. When renewing their certification for 2006, certificants will be required to carefully review and affirm by signature their understanding of the ethics and disciplinary policies. For further information, certificants are encouraged to review those policies on the NMTCB Web site at www.nmtcb.org.

The new continuing education policy will become effective January 1, 2006. Voluntary reporting of educational activities began this year, with mandatory reporting of required educational activities beginning in 2006. Certificants are encouraged to review the updated guidelines for the continuing education policy at www.nmtcb.org.

NCCA UPDATE

The NMTCB is proud to report that the NMTCB’s entry-level exam has been accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) through April 10, 2010. This was a rigorous process and the NMTCB staff and its executive director, Bhaskar Dawadi, PhD, are to be commended for their tireless commitment to the successful completion of this project. The nuclear cardiology exam will be the next examination to be submitted for accreditation, and the PET exam will be submitted when data covering at least 3 years of examination administration has been acquired.

FELLOWSHIP AWARD

The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) announced that the NMTCB’s executive director, Dr. Dawadi, has been selected as a 2005–06 scholar for the Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP). The DELP is designed to provide individuals from underrepresented segments of the association community with the opportunity to enhance their careers in the profession and, ultimately, to advance into the ranks of leadership. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Dawadi on being awarded this distinctive fellowship.

CURRENT STATISTICS

The NMTCB has certified 24,290 technologists since its inception. Table 1 provides a breakdown of certificants by specialty.

View this table:

TABLE 1

NMTCB Exams Administered Since Inception

The quality of the entry-level and specialty exams could not be achieved and maintained without the continuous dedication of the NMTCB directors and the item writers working in the field. Tony Knight, MBA, CNMT, NCT, and the members of the examination committee, continuously monitor the content and performance of the entry-level exam to ensure that it covers current practice and the required depth of knowledge for technologists entering the field. Danny Basso, CNMT, NCT, FSNMTS, and April Mann, MBA, CNMT, NCT, continue to play a critical role in the development of the fifth cardiac examination, and a core of 8 PET experts in the field have just finished writing the second PET exam.

The specialty exams are scheduled for October. The PET exam will be administered on Saturday, October 1, and the NCT exam will be administered the following weekend on October 8. Two hundred and thirty-three technologists are scheduled to sit for the NCT exam, 193 technologists are scheduled to sit for the PET exam (including 7 radiologic technologists RT[R]), and 4 technologists are scheduled to sit for both exams.

I would like to thank all of the technologists that continue to work to maintain the high quality and integrity of the examination process, and I would like to encourage anyone interested in participating in the creation of entry-level, cardiac, or PET exams to visit the NMTCB Web site for additional information on how to contribute items (questions) to the entry-level or specialty exams. With your help, the examination process will remain clinically relevant in the current practice of nuclear medicine technology.

PROPOSED NEW EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS

There is discussion within the nuclear medicine community and an approved resolution by the SNM and SNMTS to raise the educational level of the nuclear medicine technologist to a baccalaureate degree by 2015. The NMTCB directors have discussed this topic and have reached the following conclusion.

Current data

The current mechanism to assess entry-level knowledge of the newly graduated nuclear medicine technologist is by examination. Review of data from the NMTCB’s entry-level examination over the past 5 years and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) data for 2004 (Table 2) demonstrates that there is little difference between the past/fail rates among graduates from various educational programs.

View this table:

TABLE 2

Percent of Applicants Passing the Entry-Level Exam by Educational Level

Consensus building

Any fundamental change that requires support from multiple stakeholders requires strategic consensus building for success. Key participants in the development and education of nuclear medicine technologists include educational programs (certificate, AS and BS programs), professional organizations (SNMTS and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists), and educational accrediting organizations (the Joint Review Committee on Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology and regional accrediting organizations). It is critical that consensus building among key players be initiated for this change to be successful.

Additional data required

To build consensus among key stakeholders, data from a well-designed, comprehensive survey of the clinical environment, academic institutions, certifying organizations, and regional and national academic accrediting organizations should demonstrate a difference between the baccalaureate graduate and graduates from other educational programs in the following areas:

Entry level knowledge;
Clinical skills; and
Pass/fail rates of national credentialing examinations.

Given the issues noted above and the need to acquire additional data, the NMTCB determined that without empiric data suggesting that a BS degree should be the entry-level credential, it is not possible to draw any conclusions at this time.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Over the past several years, the NMTCB has significantly expanded its role and responsibilities within the nuclear medicine community. Exams have been expanded from a single entry-level exam to 1 entry-level exam and 2 specialty exams, nuclear cardiology and PET. A third specialty exam is anticipated within the next 3 years as the advance practice program in nuclear medicine technology is implemented, which will bring the total number of exams administered by the NMTCB to 4. The additional exams plus the new continuing education and ethics policies have made the NMTCB’s current office space totally inadequate. I am excited to report that the NMTCB has recently purchased a small building in the Atlanta, GA, area that will help us to meet our current responsibilities and future growth. Watch for updates on our new location on the NMTCB Web site at www.nmtcb.org.

It has been an exciting and challenging year for me, and soon Lynn Fulk, BS, CNMT, incoming NMTCB chair, will be carrying forward the accomplishments of this year and beginning her own. I would like to thank each director and staff member of the NMTCB for their dedication and support throughout the year. Through their tireless dedication, the NMTCB remains the certifying organization of nuclear medicine technology and molecular imaging by nuclear medicine technologists.

I am always available to answer your questions or discuss your comments or suggestions. Please feel free to contact me at ksthomas{at}earthlink.net.